難波江の繁き葦間を漕ぐ舟は
棹の音にぞ行く方を知る
棹の音にぞ行く方を知る
- Roma-ji
-
Naniwae no shigeki ashima o kogu fune wa sao no oto ni zo yuku kata o shiru
- English Translation
-
The boat that rows on
through the thickly growing reeds
of Naniwa Inlet —
only by its pole's soft sound
do I know which way it goes
- Meaning
- The boat rowing through the dense reeds of Naniwa Inlet cannot be seen; only by the sound of its pole do I know which way it is going.
- Commentary
-
Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 286
Hidden among the dense reeds of Naniwa Inlet, the boat itself cannot be seen, yet the sound of its pole tells which way it is moving. Capturing the unseen boat by sound alone, the poem memorably conveys the stillness of a reed-choked inlet.
The final poem of the book, 347, also begins with "Naniwae no" and sings of the moon lodged among the reeds.
The first line, "Naniwae no," names an inlet in Settsu Province, a poetic place famed for its reeds.
The second line, "shigeki ashima o" (through the dense reeds), presents what hides the boat.
The third line, "kogu fune wa" (the boat that rows), sets the boat as the topic with "wa."
The fourth line, "sao no oto ni zo," stresses with "zo" that it is by the sound of the pole.
The final line, "yuku kata o shiru," closes "zo" with the attributive "shiru," a kakari-musubi meaning one knows where it is heading.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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